Many people have celebrated the remarkable response of the thousands of volunteers who have taken part in the flood clean-up in Brisbane and elsewhere. It is far from just the actual physical labour involved that proves so important for people in need. It is also that the work involved and the sharing in their desperate situation acknowledges their grief and loss means so much. For most of us little else but the companionship of those around us can restore our hope when everything else is gone. This kind of outpouring of generosity and compassion hints at the coming reign of God.

The fact that there is the dark side of looting and people dishonestly obtaining financial handouts simply demonstrates how we are not there yet. After the initial shock of the flood and the clean up there will be the struggles with insurance and where the responsibility for community safety lies. Each person and each generation has to struggle with our inadequacy, incompleteness and failure. As we observe the good and bad around us it we can become confused. Will humanity ever change for the better? Are these times of crisis when generosity and compassion abound just fleeting moments?

Jesus begins his ministry after John the Baptist was arrested and eventually executed. He moves from his home town of Nazareth to Capernaum. Nazareth in those days was an insignificant village not the thriving city it is today. Capernaum, on the other hand, was a busy fishing town on a main Roman road where toll collectors like Matthew worked. It was in Galilee on the shore of the sea of Galilee. This area is what Isaiah calls "Galilee of the gentiles." Galilee, far from the power centre of Jerusalem, and a long way north from where John was baptising Jews, was not a homogeneous Jewish area. It was a mix of peoples from the surrounding countries. So from the beginning Jesus mission included gentiles. His Gospel was one which spoke to the needs of all people

People then, no less than today, had those same questions in their hearts as we do. Will things get better? Can people of different races live peacefully together? Will justice and mercy be found on the earth? Jesus begins his message with the words, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand." Where is this reign of God that he says is close at hand? It is to be found first of all in Jesus himself. For in him God's will and Jesus' will are the same. His total obedience to the Father means that God reigns completely in him. And how is that obedience exercised? To put it simply, Jesus offered healing and forgiveness, encouragement to those in any need, and the assurance that suffering, inevitable as it is in life, is not a sign of God's displeasure, but an opportunity for God's grace to work in us. This obedience is not a slavery but gives us a freedom to be what we are created to be.

We can see that obedience finding expression in the lives of the disciples. Jesus calls Simon and Andrew, James and John. These fisherman left everything and followed him straight away. In following Jesus they moved closer to the reign of God in their lives. These fishermen did have something to leave behind. They were not destitute men who grabbed at any opportunity to better themselves. They left behind their livelihoods and in some cases their families to follow and be part of Jesus' mission.

This itinerant preacher from the backwaters of Galilee is presented by Matthew in the words of Isaiah as the great light that all Israel had hoped for. On those who live in the region and shadow of death light has dawned. This light did not mean an end to the struggles. After all he himself suffered and died. By definition human beings are incomplete. Only God is complete. We live in hope of the kingdom of God. What it means is that the struggle is worthwhile. We will clean up after every flood! We have a goal. Not only in the next life but in this as well. Every Eucharist is an prayer for the coming of that Kingdom. We pray at Communion that God protect us as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Because we have seen that great light.

It is in living a just and compassionate life now that our true humanity is found. It is not to be found in the excessive accumulation of possessions and power. When all this is stripped away, such as in a flood, we catch a glimpse of our true human destiny.

Fr Graham